According to Debra Aho Williamson, a principal analyst at eMarketer, “the message still hasn’t sunk in: Likes are not a gauge of consumer involvement with your company or brand. But companies still insist on touting their total just like they touted “hits” back in the early days of the web.”
Williamson also advises companies to measure the success of social media marketing by tracking the redemption of coupons offered via the Facebook page, gaining new email addresses and making sales. There has been a significant increase in businesses using these sorts of conversion metrics as a measure of success.
Companies are also adjusting their posting schedules. When posting to Facebook outside normal business hours companies see engagement rates that are 20% higher than average.
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I wonder how true that last statistic is for B2B engagement?
Not to mention,
“hooks” to get people to like a page can only go so far. After all, a
lot of people out there will simply like a page to obtain a freebie, and then
never come back (until the next promo). This effect reminds me of Groupon and
how customers will simply buy a product because of a deal, without forming a
relationship with the business. Goes to show that some tactics aren’t for
everyone. You’re right; mere “likes” shouldn’t be the only yardstick
that businesses should use in measuring the success of social media.
Ultimately, conversion is what counts.